What Technology Do I Need?

Direct care physicians tend to be heavy users of technology in their practices, due to the demands of retaining memberships. Practices need access to a wide-range of technology and services, from patient marketing platforms to labs and imaging services. Which technology is optimized for and best suited to meet the needs of direct care practices?

• Can I document visits without any mandatory billing and quality reporting workflows?

• Does this platform have integrated practice management tools?

• Can I leverage patient engagement features?

Elation’s EHR is widely adopted in direct care, in practices ranging from solo physicians to large employer-based management organizations.

The EHR is a critical first choice for any physician starting a direct care practice. This tool will be the main technology a physician engages with throughout their day, and must keep workflows efficient and inform decisions at the point of care. Some key questions to consider when choosing an EHR:

• Will this system allow me to document without compromising patient-physician interactions?

• Is there a focus on care quality rather than reimbursements?

Secondary tools that can integrate with an EHR help complete the practice management. Below is a list of key software categories direct care physicians should evaluate when starting or growing their practice:

• Patient marketing

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

• Memberships management and billing

• Telemedicine

Direct care patients seeking laboratory testing and imaging procedures should be referred to independent testing and imaging centers for treatment. Often times, direct care-friendly facilities will offer a discount for lab work and off-site testing which can be arranged through vendors.

• Labs

• Imaging

Elation’s EHR is integrated with partners in all of these categories. See a complete list at elationhealth.com/partners.